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2018 College Football Head Coach Fire and Hire Thread

As noted yesterday in the Maryland thread, but figured we'd formally get this thread started.

Maryland, first out of the gate:

ESPN: Maryland fires football coach DJ Durkin day after his reinstatement

The University of Maryland has fired football coach DJ Durkin one day after his reinstatement, the school announced Wednesday evening.

In a statement, president Wallace D. Loh said, "Yesterday, the University System of Maryland Board of Regents announced numerous recommendations, including employment decisions about specific personnel on our campus. I accepted the Board's recommendations. At the same time, I announced my retirement as president in June 2019.

"Since returning to campus after yesterday's press conference, I have met with the leadership of the Student Government Association speaking on behalf of numerous student organizations; the Senate Executive Committee; Deans; department chairs; and campus leadership. The overwhelming majority of stakeholders expressed serious concerns about Coach DJ Durkin returning to the campus.

"The chair of the Board of Regents has publicly acknowledged that I had previously raised serious concerns about Coach Durkin's return. This is not at all a reflection of my opinion of Coach Durkin as a person. However, a departure is in the best interest of the University, and this afternoon Coach Durkin was informed that the University will part ways.

"This is a difficult decision, but it is the right one for our entire University. I will devote the remaining months of my presidency to advancing the needed reforms in our Athletic Department that prioritize the safety and well-being of our student-athletes."

Are you kidding, after the way the mob just labeled DJ a murderer...a supposed child molester-enabler has zero chance of ever being the head man at any university. I’m quite amazed he’s still employed in the college football field. The NFL is more forgiving. I don’t think PJ would touch that radioactive one even as an assistant.

Louisville has fired football coach Bobby Petrino two days after the Cardinals lost their seventh game in a row to fall to 2-8.

Athletic director Vince Tyra announced the move Sunday, saying he "did not have the confidence" that Petrino could turn things around next season and that the change "needs to start happening now."

"We want to thank Bobby for guiding our football program to some of the better seasons we have had historically at UofL during his two separate tenures here," Tyra said in a statement. "However, at this time we feel the program needs different leadership and we owe it to our student-athletes and fans to get this turned around."

Louisville's season has bottomed out during a seven-game losing streak and a five-game stretch of ACC defeats by at least 18 points, including blowout losses to Clemson and Syracuse over the past two weeks. The Cardinals are averaging 21.7 points per game this season, lowest in the ACC. This comes after they led the conference in scoring each of the past two seasons.

"It was clear the players weren't responding," Tyra said at a Sunday afternoon news conference. "The coaches' and the players' efforts have to go in the right direction, but I didn't feel it was going that way."